both mitt romney and barack obama are busy swatting up and rehearsing for the first television debate this wednesday. polls show the republican candidate is trailing president obama in the crucial swing states. one of them is of course ohio where early voting gets under way tomorrow. from there our north america editor reports. >> ♪ the boys are back in town ♪ >> the boys are indeed back in town yet again. they call this the buckeye state for the men who are fighting for the white house it's a state to suck up to, whether it's buying the local produce. >> i'm thinking we are going to be eating some corn over the weekend. >> or urging minors to phone a friend. >> want you to find one person to convince to vote for our ticket. >> both candidates are well aware in the last election in the last 44 years ohio has voted for the winning candidate so the politicians woo voters. >> we can create one million new manufacturing jobs in the next four years with the right policies. that's what i'm fighting for. that's why i'm running for a second term as president. that's what's going to be imp

modern-day middle-class family, whose triumphs and struggles offer a snapshot of barack obama's america. the head of this family is one of the 12 million unemployed. >> i am a labor. for 15vi have been laid off months. we talk about barack obama and mitt romney. >> i would like to see both of them stepped in my boots for about six months. i don't think they understand what the individual goes through. they need to try living paycheck to paycheck. >> he has spent his whole life here. a community built on paper mills and steel. the downtown streets are lined with casualties of the economic crisis. for five across town, school has let out. the oldest is thinking about the university. they're looking for part-time work. >> it is not a single income economy any more. gas prices are through the roof. we have a family of seven. education systems worry me, health-care worries me. what will that do for my kids and grandkids? >> what barack obama and mitt romney have to address is a kind of middle-class malaise, a perception that while the rich will take care of themselves, and the poor w

u.s. >> [indiscernible] >> this is the key. president obama is running for reelection. he understands that the last thing he needs is more uncertainty. oil prices could quadruple. plunging markets, more americans dying in afghanistan as a consequence of iran in troublemaker in -- troublemaking. as of right now, he does not accept the notion that this is a war of necessity. israel believes so, but no one else in the international community right now believes it. >> could there be a difference path for iran? >> i do not know. i suspect the intelligence agencies and the pentagon will provide cautionary tales and lay out their risks of what a unilateral american military strike would be like. this is not a 2012 issue. this will be joined sometime. the prime minister actually stated it -- >> next summer. >> yes. and he has compromised credibility and deterrent capacity because the truth is, no one is going to strike iran most likely until any time next spring. what good is a red line if you do not enforce it? >> just to move on, harsh words from the palestinian president about israeli sett

is abc world news america, reporting from washington, i am laura trevelyan. president obama condemned the video that prompted protest while the defending america's right to free speech. >> there is no speech that justifies mindless violence. there are no words to accuse the killing of innocents. -- to excuse the killing of innocents. >> and move over>mitt romney and barack obama, a comedy duo. what do they want americans to vote for? welcome to our viewers on pbs home america and also around the globe. this comes just days after violent protests broke out across the muslim world over and american maid video. it also calls for the end of assad's government in syria and would do all it could. jeremy has more. >> in the motorcade pulled into the united nations headquarters as the secretary general was sounding the alarm. he said it was a time of turmoil, transition, and transformation. for americans right now, that means protests about the anti- muslim film produced in this country. three of his colleagues were killed and one of the protests. the president told the general assembly that